Leonardo da Vinci

67 years

Leonardo da Vinci

67 years

The Background of...

A painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer. He was thought to be the greatest painter of the Italian Renaissance, and some even say of all time. He is Leonardo da Vinci.

He was born April 15, 1452 and was quite the scandal of his time, for he was born out of wedlock to a peasant named Caterina and a man of wealth named Messer Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci. From then until 1457 he lived with his mother and then moved in with his father and late wife. He received an informal education in Geometry, Latin, and Mathematics. It wasn't until 1466, when Leonardo apprenticed the artist Andrea di Cione also known as Verrocchio, that he learned the skills that would one day make him famous. While under the watch Verrocchio, he learned chemistry, painting, sculpting, modeling,mechanics, carpentry and much more.

Twelve years later, in 1478, he left Verrocchio's and began working independently for commision. From then on until his death his did multiple works, many of which were for the government and church like the Virgin of the Rock and most famously The Last Supper. But even to this day, his most well known work of art is the Mona Lisa made between 1505 and 1507. It was said to be of a pregnant women with jaundice. However many claim she was actually a he dressed in drag, but we will never know.

Leonardo spent much of his later life in Belvedere in the Vatican in Rome where he was associated with Raphael and Michelangelo. He stayed there until he went to the Clos Luce in France were he would ultimately die on May 2, 1519.

Anamtomy of the body

Head of a Young Woman with Tousled Hair

This is my favorite piece of his. I think it holds a lot of thought in the eye of the beholder. You can interpret the meaning in so many ways. Tom me, she looks mysterious yet there is a sense of happiness.

Vtruvian Man

Anamtomy of the body

Head of a Young Woman with Tousled Hair

This is my favorite piece of his. I think it holds a lot of thought in the eye of the beholder. You can interpret the meaning in so many ways. Tom me, she looks mysterious yet there is a sense of happiness.